What Books really rock/shock your world?

Thank you one and all,I already see a few potential peaches I have not yet read.
I now have one second after, billions+billions and the descent on my ever growing "to buy" list.
Keep 'em coming people!


Another life changer for me is a book not many will have heard of,for was published in 1721.
It was called approximatley "An essay on the different causes of pestilent diseases.
By John Quincy M.D."
Now,Dr Quincy was an esteemed medicine man to victims of the Black Death/the Bubonic plague in Britain in the 1700s(the last blast of that curse),and describes in olde englishe the symptoms,methods of treatment and methods of disposal of those who sucuumb to the horror.
The booke had fold out charts of parchment detailing the amount of deaths in each town and village across England,with special detail to each borough of London.

With a bit of practice at that language,that tome from the early 1700s seared into my mind the apocalyptic horrors of days gone by,and that we survived and overcame such a horror,albeit at massive cost in lives.

A rare book indeed,which I once held for a week and read,owned by a sadly now passed old historian friend of mine.
I know not what became of that most historically valuable record,but I hope it was given to a museum.
I cannot find a trace of it on our internet,although I think this is the author-
If it is,he died a year after his book I refer to was published-did he also sucuumb to the horrid dark roses?

jhmas.oxfordjournals.org...

This is a tough call...I can think of a number of books that have changed my perceptions in the micro, or altered the way I think but not necessarily 'shocked' or 'rocked' in the way the OP means...a few tremors perhaps...soooo, just to throw it out there, for those who haven't read it...

The Dice Man, by Luke Rhinehart (George Cockcroft)

Read it when I was about 15 or 16, which I think is a good time to read it, just when you're on the cusp of adulthood.

Otherwise, lots and lots of pivotal books, perhaps most recently, Sidhartha by Hesse, and subsequently, anything by Hesse. Can't get enough of Hesse

Originally posted by KilgoreTrout
reply to post by the_philth

 

Excellent book. All of Heinlein's are, though Stranger is probably the most refined, they are all very much worth the read, so don't go stopping there

I actually stopped at Starship Troopers, which was another excellent Heinlein novel.

I love his style, and you're right, I should... nay... I WILL load up on the rest of his works.

Thanks for the vote of encouragement KilgoreTrout!

Clive Barker. He's Britain's Stephen King. Only one thing. His imagination and vocabulary dwarf King's. The stories don't flow as well because you have to put the book down and think about it a bit. Kinda like Tolkien. Clive's work:

www.clivebarker.info...

Btw, if you've seen a Hellraiser movie..... that's Barker.

reply to post by the_philth


If you haven't read it yet, try Tunnel in the Sky next...it is another, like Troopers, of his earlier works...very, very good... Having read Troopers and Stranger, you will be aware of his leap in tempo. His later works are somewhat, if vaguely, intertwined and are best read in sequence if you are able to.

Red was the first of his that I read, and I was hooked from then on. I had a friend who had all his books and happy to loan them to me, so I read them all back to back. It is always a sad moment when you finish the last work by a favourite author

ETA...as has been pointed out to me by another member...the book was not called Red, it was called Friday...apologies for the confusion...and thank you to my corrector

reply to post by Silcone Synapse


Bio Hazard.
--

--

No one knows more about Russia's astounding experiments with biowarfare than Ken Alibek. Now the mastermind behind Russia's germ warfare effort reveals two decades of shocking breakthroughs...how Moscow's leading scientists actually reengineered hazardous microbes to make them even more virulent...the secrets behind the discovery of an invisible, untraceable new class of biological agents just right for use in political assassinations...the startling story behind Russia's attempt to turn a sample of the AIDS virus into the ultimate bioweapon. And in a chilling work of real-world intrigue, Biohazard offers us all a rare glimpse into a shadowy scientific underworld where doctors manufacture mass destruction, where witnesses to errors are silenced forever, and where ground zero is closer than we ever dared believe.

This book is just amazing. I highly recommend it. Not too many books do this to me but it sent chills down my spine.

reply to post by seeker1963


"Illusion" written by Paula Volsky, and it was a fantasy take on the French Revolution!

On my list now Seeker

Originally posted by intrepid
Who do I lose sleep over? King. Yeah I know but he's a helluva storyteller. Lost 2 nights sleep back to back when IT came out. Don't ask about The Stand.

I think The Stand was the first book I actually screamed at at a certain point,but hey I was awake for that scream.
A fine book,the stand.
The blueprint for so much of our now popular post apoc TV shows/free training(?)

Originally posted by Bybyots
Hi again

The story is presented as the recovered diary of Latro, a Roman mercenary who fought for Xerxes at the Battle of Plataea. As a result of head injuries incurred during the battle, Latro suffers from both retrograde and anterograde amnesia; due to the former, he does not know his own name, and must accept that others call him "Latro" (meaning "soldier"); due to the latter, he has been given scrolls on which to write down recent events so that he may (in principle) "READ THIS EVERY MORNING".

He has also developed the ability to see and interact with gods, ghosts, and mythological creatures; due to his amnesia, he does not know that this is unusual.

The book is followed by Soldier of Arete, the second in the series. I know it's not for everyone, but for some of our members that have a deep interest in Ancient and Lost Civs, this book may be a real gem for this summer's reading list.

Wolfe is probably my favorite fiction author.

Thanks, OP.

I am so thankful to you Bybyots,for another most worthy addition to my list of books I need to own.
Thank you all,this is great a whole new list of books!!

I thank each and every contributer.

reply to post by intrepid


I think the first book I ever read of his was The Theif of Always. I must of been 12 or something like that. Just blew me away.

reply to post by XLR8R


My first was Weaveworld. A story about a world inside of this world inside of a carpet. Sounds stupid but what a story.

Originally posted by intrepid
reply to post by XLR8R

 

My first was Weaveworld. A story about a world inside of this world inside of a carpet. Sounds stupid but what a story.

Intrepid-
There is a part of Weaveworld,without any spoilers to those who should yet read,where from nearby the south of Liverpool someone views a certain mountain in Wales,with something atop that mountain.
Its early in the story and merits only a sentence yet,

I live not 10 miles as the crow flies from that very mountain,and it is as real as the dirt on my boots,as I have walked there often as a youngling,with the elders and the animals.
And I do so still,with my dogs today 2 decades later.

Moel Famau

I can't resist this thread...

Brit Sci Fi Still Rules

The Year of Our War

Without a second's hesitation I can say Brian Lumley's 'Necroscope' trilogy. Just awesome.

Right up there is 'The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant', by S.R. Donaldson

Next, I'd have to say The Exorcist. I laughed at the movie, but the book scared the you know what out of me.

S. King's 'Misery'.

The Anarchist Cookbook it's always a good read and picking up a little extra knowledge never hurts. I just started rereading Whispers by Dean Koontz a very good book.

S&F as I'm always looking for something great to read but don't know where to start.

For me - I guess, Cat's Cradle. It's the one book I pick up and reread over and over again. Ice-9 and the immediate repercussions was a fascinating concept.

Might be tame for the most of ATS but I was a sucker for the Dark tower series. Read all 7 in a month and a half. To this day the first book's opening lines stick with me.

House of leaves was a lot of fun but not as impressive as my friends claimed it to be but I will say it is a book you will never know 100%. The book itself is a mirror maze.

The book that intrigued me as a teenager and continues to haunt me in my adult years...

Life After Life

Letters to a Young Poet

The Creature From Jekyll Island (an ATS staple I'm sure)

reply to post by Silcone Synapse


'You Are Important' by Roy L. Smith

'Flowers For Algernon' by Daniel Keyes

'Lamb' by Christopher Moore

'Ever Increasing Faith' by Smith Wigglesworth

These spring to mind. Hope y'all enjoy your day!

Originally posted by Kody27

The Diary of a Drug Fiend - by Aleister Crowley

That was a wild ride wasn't it? I picked mine up at a used book store in Scottsdale. Too many years ago to remember exactly, at this point.

"The Stand" never gets old though.

Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo

How about the Urantia Book, this is the book all so called religions hide from like the cowards they really at the end to maintain there own sophistry for power over others and yet cant demonstrate anything of the truth. The truth is Jesus and yet they have compromised his truth.

www.urantia.org...

They run especially from these sections

Part III. The History Of Urantia
www.urantia.org...

Oh especially this section they run under the hills in the shadows from this section, bloody cowards,
www.urantia.org...

Yet I can kick all their asses by the simple truth demonstrated from the beginning and more this includes Islam to by a mile there no different, they have no truth demonstrable.